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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Far West is Late - AGAIN - And its the BACKERS' Fault!

Holy Shit!

Gareth is such a piece of work. I really don't know how he does it. You know what, i'll share his own words and some responses from theFar West Kickstarter Comments Section. Because seeing is believing:

Translation - sure, I promised to put stuff in your hands prior to the end of 2016, but actions taken by certain backers in 2017 prevented me from doing so...

Yep. Dude, its all you. You are the reason Gareth is a failure. Hold your head high, because the amount of bullshit coming your way from Gareth is going to be neck deep.

BTW, I encouraged others to file right here at The Tavern. So Luke, I'll stand with you when the Sharka Shit starts to flow down hill.

Wow. There are parts of the above I wish I had said.

In any case, add "Contacted by the Kansas AG in 2017. This prevented me from producing what I had promised by the end of 2016" to the Sharka List of Far West Excuses.

I really wish that reputable game companies would refuse to hire writers who fail to fulfill their obligations to their crowdfunding customers. There are a lot of designers who should be on an industry-wide blacklist, and yet I see them get hired time and time again by other companies. This would be one way the industry could police itself and try to eliminate bad actors.

I'll give the guy points for the fact he at least occasionally comments on his project(s). Contrast that with Ken Whitman who hasn't said a peep to backers since July (after many months of silence). And only then to say he was kicking the can down the road a full 13 months.

Skarka's behavior is just so weird. His communication is terrible, and he has missed deadline after deadline -- yet I can't help but think that he really is still trying to finish the game. It doesn't seem to be a "take the money and run" situation, but a genuine dream project that somehow turned into a years-long clusterfuck. It has to be miserable for him, too -- but of course his way of responding to (rightful) criticism has only exacerbated people's anger and disgust. Other creators have had delays but have managed to keep backers on their side with good communication (and, usually, partial releases over time). Gareth, not so much.

Mr. Blackburn, I was there at the con where Whitman showed off part of Spinward Traveller and then ducked out on meeting with you about the KoDT movie. And he just keeps moving on to other projects without resolving anything. Now *that* guy is shameless.

Well of COURSE being contacted by the Kansas AG in 2017 prevented him from producing what he had promised by the end of 2016. I mean come on, how is the guy supposed to complete work on the time machine that's going to take him back to 2011 with the AG breathing down his neck?

He wouldn't even release a text dump of what he has so far! If it's so close to being finished then arguably doing so would help him! People would see how complete it is and be re enthused. He makes no sense!

He said (on Twitter, but never directly to the KS backers) that he backed out of releasing the unfinished book on 12/31 (as he'd said he would ten days earlier) because a disgruntled backer had threatened to put it up on the Internet immediately, and for weird reasons of pride he doesn't understand himself, he'd rather it be the finished work that is pirated.

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)